Last Stop: Berlin

Germany

Our flight home took us via Frankfurt so I gave myself three days in Germany. I spent most of it in Berlin, giving myself time just enough for the sightseeing highlights.

High speed train, Frankfurt

Took the high speed train (ICE) from Frankfurt to Berlin. It took a little over 4 hours where the bus would have taken 8.

Train timetable

These things still exist and people use them?! Everything seemed so organized after being in Thailand.

Reichstag (German Parliament), outside

Reichstag, inside

One floor below the dome is where parliament meets.

The guided audio tour walked us around the circumference of the dome. There were sensors under the walkway and the guide introduced the buildings and view of where we were standing.

Holocaust Memorial

Remnant of the Berlin Wall, Potsdamer Platz

More wall, at Topography of Terrors

More wall, at Berlin Wall Memorial

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)

Sans Souci Palace, Potsdam

Berlin Philharmonic

The perfect way to end our last night in Berlin. It was music to my ears after two years without any live classical music!

German beer

A trip to Germany wouldn't be complete without it

Turkey and Greece: The Food Edition

Turkey

Turkish coffee

Besides the taste, one of the great parts is the fancy cups they come in. 

Dessert: Baklava

 Homemade Turkish food!

Clockwise from right: stuff vine leaves with lemon, eggplant purée - one with yogurt, one without - and at the top, bulgur

Aryan, yogurt-y drink

Köfte (meatballs)

 Lamb, cooked Anatolian style

 Böreği, Turkish "spring roll" stuffed with cheese

 Moussaka

Also a popular Greek dish

The Turkish version is sauteed with eggplant, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and minced meat.

At this restaurant in Istanbul, the food is cooked on the boat and then brought to the restaurant on land.

 You can see the food being passed to the waiter.

Greece

If you ever go to the island of Kos, you should eat at this family-run cafe, called Chocolat.

The pastries were delicious and the service was great!

We came across this place while looking for our hotel on the first day we arrived. The owners pointed us in the right direction and we came back for lunch for every day we stayed in Kos.

Nutella (dare I say better than chocolate?) and banana crêpe

(Chocolat Cafe, Kos) 

A little nostalgic for Thailand, we asked them to add the banana.

Saganaki, cheese flambéed in cognac

(Pili, Kos)

 Nutella, strawberry and banana waffle

Yum!

(Thira, Santorini)

Greek plate: pasta, okra, stuffed tomato, pork roast with cheese, and pastitsio (Greek casserole)

(El Greco Taverna, Thira, Santorini)

Can you find them all?

 Gyros (Athens)

Meat galore - chicken, pork, lamb

Greek salad, of course

(Meteora Restaurant, Kalambaka)

This may not look like anything special but it was our best meal in Greece

Slow cooked meatballs (lamb, pork and veal)

(Meteora Restaurant, Kalambaka)

Next and last stop: Berlin, Germany

Island Hopping in Greece

Greece

Kos

A Greek island just an hour ferry ride from Bodrum, Turkey

 One of the biggest no-no's during service was driving or riding or touching or being in the near vicinity of motorbikes (well, not really, but...) so after leaving Thailand, I rented one.

Kefalos, Kos

Yes, it actually looked this blue.

Orthodox church

Santorini

One of, if not the most popular Greek islands

They've made romance part of their tourism. One of the things to do listed in wikitravel is "Plan your wedding in Santorini." Everyone's doing it.

Our hotel

Red sand beach

Traditional houses

Sunset in Oia

Right after the sun set, a guy proposed to his girlfriend. Aww. I guess if you're not getting married in Santorini, at least get engaged.

Athens

We took our last ferry ride to the mainland and stayed in the capital of Greece.

Acropolis

Parthenon

Amphitheater

Changing of the guard at Parliament

Meteora

Home to "monasteries in the sky"

In the past, the monasteries were only accessible by ladders, or monks and goods were pulled up using ropes and pulleys. According to this website (http://travelwithachallenge.com/Greece-Meteora.htm), the ropes were replaced "when the Lord let them break." I took the steps.

Great Meteoron Monastery

Varlaam Monastery

Can you find all 4 monasteries in this photo?

Next: FOOD

Next stop: Turkey

I made it to Europe! The first time I'd left Asia in over two years, and then went right back again - to the Asia side of Istanbul - for dinner. After 5 days in Istanbul, I traveled south to Ephesus, famous for its ancient Greek/ Roman ruins and then to Bodrum, a town on the southern coast before heading to the Greek islands.

Turkey

Istanbul

Spring tulips in bloom

 According to the Turks, the tulips that Holland is famous for originally came from Turkey.

"The History of Tulip from Turkey to Holland:" http://www.kokachi.com/tulip.html

Hagia Sophia: formerly an orthodox church, now a mosque

Sultanahmet aka Blue Mosque

Inside the mosque

All women were required to wear headscarves which were provided at the entrance. The mosque is closed during prayer time but I made it just in time to get a couple minutes inside. During prayer time, outside, I could hear the call to prayer echo between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque which are only 1km from each other.

Basilica Cistern

Ferry on the Bosphorus

Back to Asia again a couple days later, this time by accident, when I took the wrong ferry.

Ephesus

View of Selçuk, the nearby town, on our walk to Ephesus

Roman baths

Latrines: where people used to do their business
Better than squat toilets in Thailand?

Amphitheater

Şirince, wine village

Wares at the local market

Bodrum

The port

Buildings by the sea
I'm not sure who lives here but they must get wet!

There's no food photos in this one because there are so many they'll be in a separate blog post just for food.

Next: Island hopping to Greece!